Weʼre raising £2,000 to HELP THE ARTIST TO CONTINUE TO MAKE PAINTINGS!

Crowdfunding is a new type of fundraising where you can raise funds for your own personal cause, even if you're not a registered charity.

The page owner is responsible for the distribution of funds raised.

Story

ENJOY THE JOURNEY

Paul Maitland has been a practicing artist for over 30 years, he has painted many remarkable canvases; and has dedicated himself entirely to the development of new modes of painting and the opening up of new and exciting worlds of visual possibilities. Unfortunately, the usual story unfolds of the long neglected artist, ignored by his contemporaries, and frowned upon by art dealers and unknown by the general public. Despite his lack of worldly success Paul is continuing to paint on a regular basis, exploring new perceptual approaches to image making. And he is firm in his opinion that this is what he is meant to do, that he has a certain talent and is determined to see where its full exploitation will take him, and desperately wants to extend the visual language of art, far beyond what has gone in the past. Yes this might be a foolish ambition, but it is the dream and ambition of every true artist, to want to scale the heights; to climb that mountain, to write the best novel ever written, to be inspired to compose a wondrous piece of music, to bring pleasure to people and to change the world for the better. This is the dream of every young person on reaching maturity, to rebel against what their parent’s generation has done, for good or ill. And it is a beautiful thing that many artists retain this vision and ambition even into old age. Art is a luxury in a world that is forever at war with itself, and artists, like Paul Maitland, are the most impractical of people, dreamers and wanderers of what could be, of our human desires and wish for something better, grander, more beauteous, and rare, a precious pearl of great price, and a prize to end all prizes, our contentment.

Paul has reached an impasse in his life, and the toil of hard work, lack of recognition, and frankly, poverty, has taken its toll. Help him to buy paints so he can continue painting, also; at some point in the near future to exhibit his work in an established high profile gallery. He also needs to raise funds so he can launch a marketing campaign to bring many more people awareness of his art, and in fact his mere existence. He is planning to spend the next eighteen months on an intensive campaign to inform other people about his paintings, and to make sales of his work. Up to now, the time of writing this document, and plea for money, he has not sold a single painting, drawing, or sculpture; he admits this is down to his inability to make sensible decisions, and to fit in to other people’s expectations of what he ought to be doing. He is a rebel major, a man absorbed by the reality of mind and its subtle imaginations. And this is precisely what our western world has rejected, the benevolent world view of munificent reality, and a benefactor in the skies. Paul is in a long line of British, particularly English artist’s that live at odds with the times they live in, the great name of the poet and artist William Blake springs immediately to mind; however, sadly, many more infamous and rebellious names come to mind; English artist’s that have defied the spirit of their age, the times they lived in, and boldly struck forth on new paths, unfolding and creating magnificent art and innumerable other things too numerous to mention. This is the creative spirit, this is the spirit inherited by Paul Maitland by his forbears, those many and dedicated crowd of poets and artists that came before him. Enjoy the journey; with him contribute to making a work of art that shall be a noble contribution to our ever evolving culture. Without public support art in the islands of Britain will be diminished, and along with this diminution is the consequences of living and breathing a thinner, and oxygen depleted air, we as a people will live less happy and fulfilling lives. In order to flourish we need to embrace the world of the imagination, the real world of our dream life, and the reality of what is most needful to satisfy our longing for something more, for something extraordinary in our lives. This is precisely what artists and poets of all kinds, of all shapes and sizes, and of many faiths and none, offer us.

About the fundraiser

Paul Maitland

Skelmersdale, UK

I am a Contemporary Artist making oil paintings, unfortunately I haven't had any commercial success, but am determined to continue painting despite this; I think I am a good Artist, and the canvases I paint count for something.